Scientists conclude IPCC needs to change

by Antonio Pasolini on August 31, 2010

Via: FreeSpeech

An independent committee commissioned by the UN yesterday released a document with recommendations made by scientists who analysed the procedures and methods employed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), headed by Rajendra Pachaur (photo, middle).

The InterAcademy Council, an umbrella group for various national academies of science from countries around the world, concluded that IPCC has changed little since its inception 20 years ago. In order to avoid future mistakes, such as the controversial 2007 claim about the disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 and improve the organization’s transparency, the committee suggested a sweeping reform of the Panel.

The review, which took nearly four months to be completed, examined every aspect of how the IPCC’s periodic climate science assessments are prepared, including the use of non-peer reviewed literature and the reflection of diverse viewpoints. The review also examined institutional aspects, including management functions as well as the panel’s procedures for communicating its findings to the public.

Amongst the suggestions by the 12 scientists that took part of the review are the creation of an executive board to follow closely Rajendra’s decision and the appointment of a renowned scientist to take over a director role. These will be debated at IPCC’s next meeting in October when the organization will be launching its fifth report on climate change.

IPCC published a release on its website saying “it will be strengthened by the IAC review and by others of its kind this year. We already have the highest confidence in the science behind our assessments. We’re now pleased to receive recommendations on how to further strengthen our own policies and procedures … By overwhelming consensus, the scientific community agrees that climate change is real. Greenhouse gases have increased markedly as a result of human activities and now far exceed pre-industrial values.”